Welcome to Week 5 of A 2020 Prayer Life!
What follows is a series of daily meditations and exercises to help us develop our prayer lives.
Be careful not to shortchange the process by reading ahead. Take one day at a time.
Likewise, be careful not to shortchange the process by reading only. Spend time in prayer. And allow your prayer time to be guided by each day's reflections and instructions.
What follows is a series of daily meditations and exercises to help us develop our prayer lives.
Be careful not to shortchange the process by reading ahead. Take one day at a time.
Likewise, be careful not to shortchange the process by reading only. Spend time in prayer. And allow your prayer time to be guided by each day's reflections and instructions.
January 29
Consider these brief passages that bear witness to the Lord as Maker:
"May you be blessed of the LORD, Maker of heaven and earth. The heavens are the heavens of the LORD; But the earth He has given to the sons of men." (Psalm 115:15-16 NASB)
"I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, And spreading out the earth all alone..." (Isaiah 44:24 NASB)
When we first began last week to think about the Lord as "Maker," we were acknowledging that He is our Maker.
Then, later in the week, we began to ponder the reality that He is also the Maker of other people -- all other people.
Now we turn our attention to the fact that He is the "Maker of heaven and earth" and "maker of all things." Meditate on that truth in prayer, and talk with the Lord about these matters:
1) Lord our Maker, I spend all of my time in a place that You have made. How conscious am I of that fact?
2) Last week, I was prompted to think about my relationship to other people in light of the fact that you are their Maker. Now, my Maker, how should my relationship to heaven and earth be impacted by the fact that you are their Maker, as well?
"May you be blessed of the LORD, Maker of heaven and earth. The heavens are the heavens of the LORD; But the earth He has given to the sons of men." (Psalm 115:15-16 NASB)
"I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, And spreading out the earth all alone..." (Isaiah 44:24 NASB)
When we first began last week to think about the Lord as "Maker," we were acknowledging that He is our Maker.
Then, later in the week, we began to ponder the reality that He is also the Maker of other people -- all other people.
Now we turn our attention to the fact that He is the "Maker of heaven and earth" and "maker of all things." Meditate on that truth in prayer, and talk with the Lord about these matters:
1) Lord our Maker, I spend all of my time in a place that You have made. How conscious am I of that fact?
2) Last week, I was prompted to think about my relationship to other people in light of the fact that you are their Maker. Now, my Maker, how should my relationship to heaven and earth be impacted by the fact that you are their Maker, as well?
January 30
The Genesis account of creation includes this climactic line: "And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good." (Genesis 1:31 NASB)
He saw all that He had made.
You are invited just now to spend time now seeing -- whether with your physical eyes or in your mind's eye -- all that He has made. Meditate on His works, ponder His creation.
Contemplate the goodness of what He has made, and let that well up in you as appreciation -- appreciation of both what was made and the Maker.
Let it become expressions of thanks and praise to God.
He saw all that He had made.
You are invited just now to spend time now seeing -- whether with your physical eyes or in your mind's eye -- all that He has made. Meditate on His works, ponder His creation.
Contemplate the goodness of what He has made, and let that well up in you as appreciation -- appreciation of both what was made and the Maker.
Let it become expressions of thanks and praise to God.
January 31
In the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah condemned the people of his day, saying, "You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, That what is made should say to its maker, 'He did not make me'; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, 'He has no understanding '?" (Isaiah 29:16 NASB)
In our day, both atheists and believers alike are tempted to think that doubting God is a modern invention. Yet twenty-seven hundred years ago, the people around Isaiah were evidently saying of God, "He did not make me." Skepticism is not necessarily modern or scientific or enlightened, you see; it's just human.
Talk to the Lord about this phenomenon: human beings denying their Maker.
1) O Lord, my Maker, what is Your heart's response when people deny You? Do I have any experience in my life which is at all comparable to what You experience in this?
2) Are there ways in which I effectively deny You as my Maker? Not that I don't believe it in my head, but are there ways I live and choices I make that are tantamount to denying that You are my Maker?
In our day, both atheists and believers alike are tempted to think that doubting God is a modern invention. Yet twenty-seven hundred years ago, the people around Isaiah were evidently saying of God, "He did not make me." Skepticism is not necessarily modern or scientific or enlightened, you see; it's just human.
Talk to the Lord about this phenomenon: human beings denying their Maker.
1) O Lord, my Maker, what is Your heart's response when people deny You? Do I have any experience in my life which is at all comparable to what You experience in this?
2) Are there ways in which I effectively deny You as my Maker? Not that I don't believe it in my head, but are there ways I live and choices I make that are tantamount to denying that You are my Maker?
February 1
The prophet Isaiah also revisits the truth of God as Maker in this passage:
"Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker -- An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, 'What are you doing?' Or the thing you are making say, 'He has no hands'?" (Isaiah 45:9 NASB)
Yesterday, we considered the phenomenon of denying our Maker. But this passage is different in two respects. First, it casts the role of Maker in the present rather than in the past. In other words, it is not God as the One who made (past), but God as the One who is making (present).
Talk with Him about that truth.
Lord, I believe that You are my Maker. But are you still making me? Is that something that is going on even today? And, if so, what are You endeavoring to make?
"Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker -- An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, 'What are you doing?' Or the thing you are making say, 'He has no hands'?" (Isaiah 45:9 NASB)
Yesterday, we considered the phenomenon of denying our Maker. But this passage is different in two respects. First, it casts the role of Maker in the present rather than in the past. In other words, it is not God as the One who made (past), but God as the One who is making (present).
Talk with Him about that truth.
Lord, I believe that You are my Maker. But are you still making me? Is that something that is going on even today? And, if so, what are You endeavoring to make?
February 2
"Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker -- An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, 'What are you doing?' Or the thing you are making say, 'He has no hands'?" (Isaiah 45:9 NASB)
Two days ago, we considered the phenomenon of denying our Maker in Isaiah 29. But this passage from Isaiah 45 is different in two respects. First, it casts the role of Maker in the present rather than in the past. We considered that truth yesterday. And, second, it reveals that our problem at some times may not be denying our Maker but rather quarreling with Him.
Talk with Him about that truth.
Tell Him about the times that you have said -- or wanted to say -- "What are you doing?"
Talk to Him about your experiences of the difference between quarreling and yielding.
Talk to Him about your experiences of the difference between doubting and trusting.
Talk to Him about your experiences of cooperating (or not) with what He is endeavoring to make of you.
Two days ago, we considered the phenomenon of denying our Maker in Isaiah 29. But this passage from Isaiah 45 is different in two respects. First, it casts the role of Maker in the present rather than in the past. We considered that truth yesterday. And, second, it reveals that our problem at some times may not be denying our Maker but rather quarreling with Him.
Talk with Him about that truth.
Tell Him about the times that you have said -- or wanted to say -- "What are you doing?"
Talk to Him about your experiences of the difference between quarreling and yielding.
Talk to Him about your experiences of the difference between doubting and trusting.
Talk to Him about your experiences of cooperating (or not) with what He is endeavoring to make of you.
February 3
Today we want to tie together a number of different things that we've been learning. And we begin by returning to this crucial line from the Genesis account of creation: "And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good." (Genesis 1:31 NASB)
All that He had made was very good.
We have noted some of those things that He has made: nature, us, and other people. Talk with Him about that connection -- these things that He has made, on the one hand, and the fact that all that He made was very good, on the other.
O Lord, my Maker, it comes most easily for me to see and to affirm that You made nature good. I look at stars and lakes and mountains and flowers, and it is easy for me to say that what You have made is good.
I do not necessarily look at other people the same way, though. I do not necessarily look at myself that same way.
Help me to understand what it means to affirm that You made other people good. Help me to see it.
Help me to understand what it means to affirm that You made me good.
And inasmuch as You are still making me, help me to understand and to see that You are, in the present, making me good.
Thank Him for the goodness of all that He has made.
Praise Him for the goodness of what He is making.
All that He had made was very good.
We have noted some of those things that He has made: nature, us, and other people. Talk with Him about that connection -- these things that He has made, on the one hand, and the fact that all that He made was very good, on the other.
O Lord, my Maker, it comes most easily for me to see and to affirm that You made nature good. I look at stars and lakes and mountains and flowers, and it is easy for me to say that what You have made is good.
I do not necessarily look at other people the same way, though. I do not necessarily look at myself that same way.
Help me to understand what it means to affirm that You made other people good. Help me to see it.
Help me to understand what it means to affirm that You made me good.
And inasmuch as You are still making me, help me to understand and to see that You are, in the present, making me good.
Thank Him for the goodness of all that He has made.
Praise Him for the goodness of what He is making.
February 4
As we come to the conclusion of Week 5, think about this advice from the 16th-century Protestant Reformer, John Calvin, and let it inform your praying just now:
“When you pray, do not put any limits on God. It is not your business to tell God how to answer your prayers. This is not a time to bargain or set conditions. Before you tell God what you want or need, ask that His will be done. This makes your will subordinate to His.”
“When you pray, do not put any limits on God. It is not your business to tell God how to answer your prayers. This is not a time to bargain or set conditions. Before you tell God what you want or need, ask that His will be done. This makes your will subordinate to His.”